14 June 2010
Thugs Assault Congressman Etheredge
From CollegeNews.com:
Resjudicata
2010 06 14
Jack booted college thugs from the Tea Party’s vicious Youth Video Projects department attacked innocent Congressman NC Rep Bob Etheridge (Dem) as he returned from conducting the people’s Pelosi business. Both thugs were able to escape from the victim after the poor congressman was able to overcome and detain one of the assailees for a short time and squeeze a gurgled epithet from the more brawny of the two skinny thugs. The congressman’s friends from the SEIU benevolence league have offered to protect the congressman from future random attacks by sacrificing other people’s rights to assure he is left unopposed in the business of raising taxes for the peoples own good of course. Keith Olbermann was quick to point out the obvious racial overtones that weren’t heard or seen during the altercation. Rosie O’Donnell also commented during her radio show on the blatant anti-gay rhetoric not being uttered during the attack by the pro life Catholic Church mob down the street during a church service. The congressman coming from a Pelosi fund raiser to repeal Arizona’s AB1070, was heard to yell “I have a right to know who you are” and “Vee haf veys ouf making you show zee papers” at the assailants, no admission by the attackers of belonging to any neo-type group was forth coming. After the congressman’s dust up with the hooligans, Janet Napolitano quickly declared the scene safer than it had ever been before and pledged to be even more vigilant for neo-anti taxpayers like these two youths. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the President will withhold any comments about whose @#$% ass to kick for at least a month or two. A full investigation of the assault by the top prosecutors in the US AG’s office has been promised by the US Attorney General. Mr. Holder said funds allocated in the next year’s budget for the persecution of the two youths will require billions to assure the American people this type of freedom of the press or speech behavior by youths running rampant with cameras and microphones cannot continue unchecked. Harry Reid has proposed massive tax hikes on the rich to fund the new legislation.
I'm guessing Mr. Etheredge takes Arguing with Idiots
to a whole new level!
I'm guessing Mr. Etheredge takes Arguing with Idiots
to a whole new level! 26 May 2010
More Cities on Brink of Bankruptcy - CNBC
Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure
More Cities on Brink of Bankruptcy
Published: Wednesday, 26 May 2010 | 11:01 AM ET
Text Size
By: Kate Kelly
CNBC Reporter
CNBC Reporter
 |
Jeremy Woodhouse | The Image Bank | Getty Images |
The possibility of a bankruptcy filing by the city of Harrisburg, Pa., the state capital, looms large these days—and it could be the first in a series, say some Wall Street traders.
Harrisburg, population 55,000, owes nearly $70 million in debt payments this year, and it's unclear where that money will come from.
Harrisburg now has one of the lowest credit ratings of any municipality in the United States.
Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson told CNBC Wednesday that she had assembled a group of bond stakeholders, the city council and other interested parties to work out the crisis "so that we don't become the poster child of the world in terms of bankruptcy."
Municipal bond underwriters are monitoring Harrisburg, which has struggled to contain the costs of financing a troubled incinerator project.
Kate Kelly
CNBC Reporter
In 2003, the city borrowed $125 million to expand and retrofit its incinerator, which officials thought would make money for Harrisburg. The incinerator re-opened five years later, but it's turned out to be nothing but a money drain.
On May 1, the city missed a $452,282 loan payment related to the incinerator.
Raising taxes or selling assets, like real estate or parking lots, are options for Harrisburg. So is a restructuring plan—either inside or outside of bankruptcy.
If Harrisburg does file for bankruptcy, it would do so under Chapter 9—which is employed by cities, but rarely. In one closely watched case, the city of Vallejo, Calif., has been in Chapter 9 since 2008.
About the Harrisburg situation, Jim Lebenthal, head of public affairs for the longtime municipal-bond underwriter, Lebenthal & Co., said that while filing for Chapter 9 would be a small matter in the scheme of things, it's "emblematic" of the larger economic struggles that cities face right now. "If it can happen in a state capital, my God, it can happen anywhere," said Lebenthal.
The overall problem is that the $2.8 trillion muni bond market, long considered one of the safest havens for investors, now faces a daunting level of debt, as cities from Los Angeles to New York struggle with an array of headaches, including less tax revenue and high labor costs.
According to remarks made by Harrisburg mayor Thompson in April, the city spends rought 70 percent of its annual budget on labor.
Cities can always raise taxes to fight a budget shortfall. But costly projects, fewer people in the workforce and more demand for city services can make budgets tough to square these days.
Financial firms underwrite bond offerings for cities and public-works projects, and the default rate on muni bonds has historically been quite low—less than 1 percent—compared to nearly 13 percent for corporate bonds, according to ratings agency figures.
In that sense, the Street encourages investors to go long municipalities.
But investors and the Street can also short munis through credit default swaps, or CDS policies that pay out if an entity defaults.
The Markit MCDX, an index that tracks the cost of insuring against default of a basket of 50 municipalities, is on a recent high of $173,000 for $10 million of protection on a five-year bond—a point last reached near the beginning of this year. A swap that would pay out if the state of Pennsylvania defaults cost $112,000 for the same $10 million amount.
Jesse Bergman contributed to this story.
© 2010 CNBC.com
TOPICS:Economy (U.S.) | Regulations | Investment Strategy | Debt | Credit | Banking |Corporate Bonds | Municipal Bonds | Bankruptcy | New York City | Politics & Government
06 May 2010
Is Western Watts Research Biased?
An interesting thing happened to me today. I got a phone call from what sounded like a young college student today asking some political questions. He said he was doing some research and wanted to know where we stood in our household.He asked if we were registered to vote and I said yes.
He then asked if we mostly leaned Republican or Democrat or Independent. I said, "Mostly Republican".
He then asked how likely we were to vote in the upcoming mid term elections, to which I responded, "Very Likely".
He then asked if we were likely to vote Democrat, Republican or Independent. I responded that I would vote Conservative. Sometimes that's Republican and sometimes that's Independent, but rarely Democrat.
At this point the phone went dead. I hit *69 to see who had called and that's how I got the Company name. So I ask. Is Western Watts Research Biased?
He then asked if we mostly leaned Republican or Democrat or Independent. I said, "Mostly Republican".
He then asked how likely we were to vote in the upcoming mid term elections, to which I responded, "Very Likely".
He then asked if we were likely to vote Democrat, Republican or Independent. I responded that I would vote Conservative. Sometimes that's Republican and sometimes that's Independent, but rarely Democrat.
At this point the phone went dead. I hit *69 to see who had called and that's how I got the Company name. So I ask. Is Western Watts Research Biased?
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